I Am a Runner!!

I had a nice chat with my running buddy from Montana the other day.  My friend Amy and I have been friends since middle school.  She is my best friend's little sister.  We were part of a pretty awesome 2 mile relay team in high school.  That was the first  experienced I had of working towards a goal as an individual and as a team all in one.  Every meet we ran in we had a goal to better our time and we worked together in practice to achieve this.  We did it too!  We might not have been the fastest bunch all together but we were dedicated and committed to each other and our goal.  We set a school record and metaled at the conference meet to boot!

Cathy, Paige, Amy & Shelly 2 mile relay 1987

So in our conversation were discussing how runners are a whole breed of their own!  Anyone who is a runner can relate here.  I told her that being on a cross country team while in school is full of all kinds of life lessons.  Goal setting is the major one.  I feel a good coach encourages and requires the team to make goals individual and as a team.  How can you strive to get somewhere if there is no goal in sight?  Running accomplishes this.  Kids learn to set those goals, devise a plan (workout) to get there and then ultimately becomes successful in reaching their goal and then moves on to setting a new goal.  Life is like that as well if you have no goal, no purpose you will just run circles and never get anywhere or accomplish what you want.  Set a goal derive a plan and meet that goal!  Yes there are obstacles in running an injury some really awful weather and in life an unexpected thing could happen like being laid off or your car motor blowing up. Running also makes a person become resilient.  You learn to push through, to get back up and finish and it becomes a habit to just get up everyday and run.

I never experienced running on a cross country team until college.  I was recruited to run track and play basketball and the track coach talked me into running cross country.  I was a ballplayer and a sprinter I never ran farther than 5 miles until that summer before my freshman year of college.  I remember the friends I made and the races I ran in but I was still a sprinter at heart.  Well the sprinter in me is gone and now i am a true long distance runner and i love everything about it.  I have to laugh because it is so ironic that for the longest time I was trying to run away from my "jock type runner image" that now in my 40's I am OK with that image, that is who I am.  I am also a wife, mom, teacher, sister etc. but for sure I am a Runner!